Testing the old "Defoliation" Argument

purplehays1

purplehays1

Well-Known Member
So ive seen a bunch of threads with people arguing and shooting out claims about how great or terrible cutting leaves off cannabis plants is. I have always used a technique of topping pretty early and then removing all but the best 4-6 branches before flowering and just keeping an even canopy and only removing the leaves that block top bud sites. I am about 6 weeks in veg and have 4 plants that were very similar yesterday before i chopped the hell out of 2 of them. I took every fan leaf that was blocking a new growth site. On the other two i did almost nothing. All 4 plants were trained the same, topped/LST into 8-10 strong branches. I will train one the same as i have always, leave one full bush and continue to defoliate the two. My signature has a link to my journal if you want to follow along and see the results. I will flower as soon as they look to have recovered.
 
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Silky Shagsalot

Silky Shagsalot

Well-Known Member
i do a lot of trimming/pruning, but it sounds like you cut like a maniac. 4 to 6, 8-10 branches??? i mostly trim leaves, not branches. i trim branches in veg/ a little in flower. but i have more than ten growth tips.
 
purplehays1

purplehays1

Well-Known Member
4-6 main branches was on a stretchy OG plant, wouldn't be a good idea on this short bushy skunk cross, and i would have taken the branches weeks ago if iw as going that route. All 4 plants will be left with there main branches, all have 7-10 currently. The difference will be where they are left a canopy.

The 2 i am "defoliating" will not have a true canopy, they will be quite bare towards the top as any leaf blocking lower bud will be taken from them.

I will leave one fully untrimmed, just a bushy monster of leaves fighting each other.

And one i will use my traditional approach of trimming most bottom growth that does not get good light, and keeping a dense even canopy just below the top nugs. Only removing leaves that block top bud sites or are too low to get good light through the canopy.
 
purplehays1

purplehays1

Well-Known Member
Sativied said:
You are "testing the defoliation argument" yet I am the troll? o_O

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You implying you have such vast knowledge as to think you know everything about cultivation and no test is needed?

Love your modesty


How is testing a hotly argued concept trolling?
 
ayr0n

ayr0n

Well-Known Member
purplehays1 said:
So ive seen a bunch of threads with people arguing and shooting out claims about how great or terrible cutting leaves off cannabis plants is. I have always used a technique of topping pretty early and then removing all but the best 4-6 branches before flowering and just keeping an even canopy and only removing the leaves that block top bud sites. I am about 6 weeks in veg and have 4 plants that were very similar yesterday before i chopped the hell out of 2 of them. I took every fan leaf that was blocking a new growth site. On the other two i did almost nothing. All 4 plants were trained the same, topped/LST into 8-10 strong branches. I will train one the same as i have always, leave one full bush and continue to defoliate the two. My signature has a link to my journal if you want to follow along and see the results. I will flower as soon as they look to have recovered.
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I'm doing something similar just because everyone arguing over one way or the other wasn't good enough for me - had to see it. Got 7 plants going, 4 are gonna be untrained completely, one is getting topped, one is gonna get heavily defoliated n one is gonna get a light defoliation...Just wanna see the results

both arguments seem good to me and both methods seem to work fine for different growers...hard to wade through forum debates and decide what's what
 
C

CaretakerDad

Well-Known Member
Unless your plants are all identical clones then what you are doing is interesting but not scientifically valid. You should have a control group(s) and a subject group(s) and they should be assigned randomly and done in sets of 3 under identical conditions.


Oh yeah and defoliation is bad practice which is often confused with pruning. Judicious pruning should be done on many varieties to increase air flow or remove sucker growth both of which help to reduce the chance of disease. Opening up budsites to the light by removing functioning fan leaves shows a fundamental lack of understanding regarding plant physiology.
 
ayr0n

ayr0n

Well-Known Member
CaretakerDad said:
Unless your plants are all identical clones then what you are doing is interesting but not scientifically valid. You should have a control group(s) and a subject group(s) and they should be assigned randomly and done in sets of 3 under identical conditions.


Oh yeah and defoliation is bad practice which is often confused with pruning. Judicious pruning should be done on many varieties to increase air flow or remove sucker growth both of which help to reduce the chance of disease. Opening up budsites to the light by removing functioning fan leaves shows a fundamental lack of understanding regarding plant physiology.
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I'm more interested in the effects of attempting to redirect energy and hormones into different areas, and possibly increasing gas exchange since my plants have almost no vertical growth and have leaves literally laying on top of each other...It's not scientific at all - with no control - but it's fun to play w/ them :) If the argument is whether or not a part of a plant needs to be getting direct sunlight/light to develop I'd definitely say that is not the case...As long as photosynthesis is occurring and the plant is up taking nutrients then all parts of it should be able to develop - even those in the shade...
 
C

CaretakerDad

Well-Known Member
ayr0n said:
I'm more interested in the effects of attempting to redirect energy and hormones into different areas, and possibly increasing gas exchange since my plants have almost no vertical growth and have leaves literally laying on top of each other...It's not scientific at all - with no control - but it's fun to play w/ them :) If the argument is whether or not a part of a plant needs to be getting direct sunlight/light to develop I'd definitely say that is not the case...As long as photosynthesis is occurring and the plant is up taking nutrients then all parts of it should be able to develop - even those in the shade...
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If increasing gas exchange is your goal then removing the leaves is counterproductive as you can see in the illustration below. Gas is ONLY exchanged through Stoma which are located on the underside of the leaf. Another important function that is often overlooked is that of the guard cells which open to allow water vapor to escape which draws nutrients up through the roots and closes when temperatures are too high or water is not available at the roots. These are also ONLY located on the leaf. Therefore removing fan leaves impairs the plants ability to produce sugars, capture energy and regulate its internal temperature and moisture levels. :weed:
 
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